


SAN JUAN AND 
SECESSION 



Possible Relation to the War of tlie Rebellion -- Did 

General Harney Try to Make Trouble With English 

to Aid the Conspiracy ? — A Careful Review 

of His Orders and the Circumstances 

Attending the Disputed Possessions 

During the Year 1859. 



BY 



GRANVILLE O. HALLER, 

Colonel U. S. A., Eetired. 

(Captain and Brevet Major, Commanding I Company, Fourth 
. Infantry, and Fort Townsend, Wash., in 1859.) 






The foJlowliifj intercstiiK/ paper o)i tlie con- 
troversy between the Enrjtish and United 
States authorities in 1859 for tlie possession 
of San Juan island was read l)y Colonel 
GranriUe (). Halter, of Seattle, at the meet- 
ing of the Loyal Ler/iou on Thursday 
evening, Jan. !(>, 1S96, at the Tacoma hotel: 



Reprinted for 
R. L. MCORMICK. 



Gift. 
nAg'05 




SAN JUAN AND SECESSION 



N 1853, by act of conoress, that portion of Oregon territory north of 
the Columbia river and north of the 4Gth degree, north latitude, to 
the east of the Columbia river, where that degree crosses said river, 
was set apart and organized, as Washington territory. 

In 1853 the autonomy was organized by Isaac I. Stevens, the first 

governor (an ex-engineer officer of the United States army, highly 

distinguished in the Mexican war), and en route to the Pacific coast 

conducted a railroad survey across the continent, but who resigned 

^y ^y ^'' I to accept the offices of governor and superintendent of Indian affairs 

^^ in Washington territory. 

In 1854 the legislature organized counties and defined their 
boundaries. The Haro archipelago was included in Whatcom county. 
When the assessor went the rounds of his county, he found on San Juan island a 
large Hock of sheep, and assessed them as the property of the Hudson Bay com- 
pany; the chief trader, Mr. Charles John Griffin, notified the assessor that the 
island belonged to (ireat Britain. When the tax collector called to collect the 
taxes, the chief trader ignored him and his credentials, claiming he was on a 
British isle. The sheriff then visited the island to collect delinquent taxes, when 
he Vvas informed that the island belonged to her majesty, the queen of Great 
Britam! Whether the island did or did not belong to the queen was not for him 
to decide; he had come to collect the delinquent taxes, and, not receiving pay, he 
levied on a band of sheep, and sold at public auction some thirty head or more 
to cover the' amount assessed and the costs of collecting. 

James Douglass, the presiding officer of the Hudson Bay company in British 
.America, and the governor of Vancouver island, in May, 1855, protested to the 
governor of Washington territory (Stevens), against such proceedings, assuring 
him that San Juan and all the islands of the Haro archipelago were within his 
jurisdiction and under the protection of the British laws; that he had the orders 
of her majesty's ministers to treat these islands as part of the British dominions; 
all, of course, to little effect. 

He then caused an account to be made out, showing the number of rams and 
ewes seized and sold, and of constructive damages resulting from the removal of 
their rams and loss thereby of Iambs. These he caused to be forwarded to the 
British minister in Washington City, D. C, to present to the secretary of state 
of the United States, and demand indemnity for the past and security for the 
future. These papers were duly presented to Governor Marcy (secretary under 
President Pierce), who, on referring to the treaty to ascertain if San Juan island 
was English soil or not, was confounded by the peculiar wording of the first article 
of the treaty — no channel was named, so the boundary was to follow the middle 
of a channel undetermined. His broad mind recognized at once that San Juan 
island was within "fairly disputed limits." The treaty not having disposed of it, 
the island had not been relieved from the operation of the treaty of 1827, of joint 
occupation. 

On the 14th of July, 1855, Governor Marcy, in that terse English of his, wrote 
to Governor Stevens that "He (the president) has instructed me to say to you 

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SAN JUAN AND SECESSION 

tiiat the ollit-ers of the territory should abstain from all acts on disputed (jrounds 
wliic'h are calculated to provoke any conflicts, so far as it can be done without 
implying the concession to the authority of Great Britain of an exclusive right 
ti'. '^r the premises. 

"The title ought to be settled before either jjartj- should exclude the other 
by force, or exercise complete and exclusive sovereign rights within fairly dis- 
jjuted limits. Application will be made to the British government to interpose 
witli the local authorities on the northern borders of our territory to abstain 
trorn like acts of exclusive ownership, with the explicit understanding that any 
forbearance on either side to assert the rights, respectively, shall not be construed 
into any concession to the adverse party. 

"Bj' a conciliatory and moderate course on both sides, it is sincerely hojjed 
that all difl["iculties will be avoided until an adjustment of the boundary line can 
1)0 made in a manner mutually satisfactory. The government of the United 
States will do what it can to have the line established at an early period." 

To understand the sound common sense of Governor Marcj-'s letter, we must 
remember that after Lord Aberdeen had intimated to Mr. McLane, our minister 
m Ix)ndon (May 15, 1840), that he would instruct Mr. Pakenham to ofl'er the 
40th jiarallel to salt water (Birch's bay), then deflect so as to allow England all 
of Vancouver island; that he would probably name the middle of the Canal de 
Haro for the boundary line, we find (May 10, 1846), that Sir John Pelly, governor 
of the Hudson Bay company in London, obtained an interview and effected a 
cliange in his lordship's mind, and, in the project of the treaty, Lord Aberdeen 
aimed at Captain Vancouver's red line (on his, Vancouver's, chart of the Gulf of 
Georgia, used at the time), showing the track of his vessel from Admiralty inlet 
northward, which he found navigable, west of Whidby island, as the boundary 
line he desired. Sir John Pelly wanted that finest of the islands, as he called 
Whidby island, also, but he admitted that he did not see how that could be 
included. Lord Russell to Lord Lyons, December 16, 1859, well says: 

"Had Lord Aberdeen and Sir John Pelly obtained the consent of the United 
States government to their views in favor of the channel marked as navigable 
by Vancouver, or had Mr. jMcLane and Mr. Senator Benton obtained the assent 
of Lord Aberdeen and Mr. Pakenham to their opinion that Haro's strait was the 
channel intended by the treaty, such agreement would have been conclusive. But 
o.?parate interpretations, not communicated to the other party to a treaty, can- 
not be taken as decisive in a disputed question." 

The utmost harmony was re-established between the local governments; the 
United States had sent out, as the boundary commissioner, Archibald Campbell, 
Esq., and Great Britain had sent Captain James Prevost as first commissioner 
ard Captain George H. Richards as assistant commissioner and hydrographer, botli 
of R. N., to determine the water boundary. When General Harney visited Puget 
Sound, Mr. Campbell was located near the 49th parallel, engaged in establishing 
and marking the international boundary line on land; the English commissioners 
iverc engaged in hydrographic surveys. The commissioners had held repeated 
meetings and presented their claims, but the wording of the treaty did not con- 
form to either claim. The English commissioners admitted that they were too 
far to the east, but their surveys discovered a channel for deep sea-going vessels 
just east of San Juan island, which conformed more nearly to the wording of the 
treaty, and they offered to compromise on that. Mr. Campbell insisted the Canal 

— 4 — 



S A N JUAN AND SECESSION 

de Haro separated Vancouver's island from the continent, and was the line Mr. 
McLane had assented to, etc. The commissioners had reported to their respective 
governments as far as they had gone, leaving their superiors to resolve the 
boundary problem. 

Another matter (when (ieneral Harney visited the Sound, in 1859), worthy 
of our serious consideration was the unfortunate state of feeling existing through- 
out the quasi United States. We were no longer united. The "irrepressible con- 
flict" had arrayed the North against the South, and bitter strife in congress 
iinluced several states to prepare for a violent separation. We were, at this time, 
in a much more perilous condition than we were in President Polk's term, when 
about to fight England for 54 degrees 40 minutes, and Mexico for Texas. Xow, 
the South, with Texas, was about leady to tight the North, if not allowed to 
secede, and a war with England, then, would, without doubt, have greatly helped 
to secure their independence. General Harney's conduct is inexplicable, unless it 
v\as "'a design and an object with it, the Southern secession from the beginning." 
The historj' of Washington territory confutes the assumptions of the general 
against Governor Douglass and the Hudson Bay company. The evidence, although 
vol connected with the boundary question, is, I think, pertinent to a more thor- 
ough understanding of our relations with our neighbors across the line, who stand 
accused by the general, because it will throw side lights on their actions, which 
are always more reliable than mere accusations. 

It is a part of our history that Governor Stevens, of Washington territory, 
and General Joel Palmer, of Oregon, wei'e appointed commissioners to negotiate 
v,ith Indians for lands appropriated to white settlements by acts of congress. 
These commissioners inaugurated a grand council, at which the Yakima Indians 
(fourteen' tribes), the Nez Perce and the confederate band located on or near the 
Walla Walla (three tribes), all lying on. the east side of the Cascade mountains, 
in Oregon and Washington, were to meet them at their council ground on the 
Walla Walla river. This assembly made it possible for Kamiaken, a very intelli- 
gent chief of the Yakima Indians, to combine all who were unwilling to part with 
th.o homes of their forefathers into a seoet association, pledged to exterminate 
the hated white settlers. The persistent efforts of the commissioners were gaining 
chief by chief, with the possibility that the luiwilling Indians would lose their 
homes. In this extremity it was proposed to massacre the commissioners and 
small guard of soldiers, but Kamiaken advised the disafi'ected chiefs to sign the 
treaty — the whites^ had not conformed to their treaty promises to the Indians on 
the Willamette; it was only to gain time — and it would be a great advantage, 
while the whites considered the Indians friendly, to have time to procure powder 
and lead, and, when winter set in, the Columbia would be frozen over and steamers 
tied up; at the same time the snow on the Cascade mountains would make the 
crossing impracticable; then, at a signal, their warriors would fall, simultaneously, 
upon the unsuspecting whites, which could not fail to destroy them, having no 
escape, and no assistance could reach them in time. 

It was my fortune to sound the tocsin of war, before the winter set in, and 
suddenly Oregon and Washington found a bloody war on their hands. The local 
Indians on Puget Sound, instigated by the Yakima-Klickitats, made a raid on the 
unprotected settlers, massacring the pioneers, their wives and children, and setting 
lire to their dwelling places. 

Although Governor Stevens had applied, early in his administration, to the 

— 5 — 



SAN JUAN AND SECESSION 

secretary of war for 1,000 stands of arms and anununition, for any eniergent-y,. 
the secretary declined until tlio militia were enrolled and the allotment deter- 
mined. Hence, our territory was tal<en by surpiise — the governor \\a.s in tlie 
Blackfoot country — the people wholly imprejjared for war. 

Our historian, Judge Elwood Evans, writing of these times, says: 
"In this exigency, (iovernor IMason (acting governor), had been compelled to 
appeal to a foreign government for that aid which our government had neglectef. 
to furnish. * * * to ask of a foreign ofi'icial for arms and ammunition to 
viefcnd Anu'rican homes and firesides. But Sir James Douglass, governor of tlie 
colony of Vancouver island, proved a friend in need. Promptly and generously 
(having nuxde himself personally responsible for the purchases), he embraced the 
oppcrtimitj- to assist his fellow beings in their emergency, and also to impart 
the useful lesson to savagery that, in a war against the white race, they need 
noi e.vpect any sympathy from that great statesman and tlie com])any. over the 
afTairs of which he presided." 

Acting Governor Mason reported the fact of his ajjplying to Governor Douglass 
•0 the territorial legislature, and says: "That application was promptly and cor- 
dially responded to to the extent of his power, he, at the same time, regretting 
that he had at the moment no vessels of war at his disposal, and that his steamers, 
the Otter and Beaver, were botli absent, etc." Soon after the Otter was sent over 
to assist, which demonstrated the policy of the Hudson Bay company, to-wit: the 
life of a white person was too sacred for any Indian to raise liis luind against him, 
violently. This occuired in the fall of 1855, and the war lasted several years, 
so these facts should have been fresh in General Harney's memory in 185!). 

In writing an official explanation to the adjutant general, U. S. A., fen- liis 
assumptions on Puget Sound, General Harney, in his letter, August 29, 1859, says: 
"Time and again our lighthouses were attacked, and the wives and children of our 
citizens on that coast were brutally murdered by British Indians. Reports reached 
me that these Indians had been instigated to these acts by the Hudson Bay com- 
pany, in order to drive them (Who? the brutally murdered, or the Hudson Bay 
company?) from the lands, etc." One month and ten days before this, .Tuly 19, 
l'*59, the general wrote to the adjutant general, IT. S. A.: """ * * ^Ir. Hubbs 
i'lformed me that a short time before my arrival, the chief factor of the company 
at Victoria, Mr. Dallas, son-in-law of Governor Douglass, came to the island in 
the British sloop-of-war Satellite, and threatened to take one of the Americans 
by force to Victoria for shooting a pig of the company. The American seized his 
rifle and told Mr. Dallas if any such attempt was made he would kill him on 
the .-pot. The affair then ended. The American offered to pay. etc. 

"To prevent a repetition of this outrage. I have ordered the company at Fort 
Bellingham to be established on San Juan island for the ]n-oteetion of our citizens, 
etc." 

The way we undertake to jjrotect them is jiroclaimed by Captain Pickett, 
Ninth infantry, in his post orders, dated San Juan island, ^^'. T., July 27, 18.59: 
"Par. III. — This being I'nited States territory, no laws other than those of the 
United States, nor courts, except such as are held l)y virtue of said laws, will be 
.ecognized or allowed on this island. By order of ('a])tain Pickett." 

General Harney upheld this order, but did not seem to know that it exercised 
complete and exclusive sovereign rights, for in his letter to the adjutant general, 
U. S A., of August 25, 18.59, he writes: 

— G — 



HAN JUAN AND SECESSION 

"In a communication to Commissioner Campbell, of the Northwest boundary 
i?uivey, I liave disclaimed any intention of asserting any sovereignty over the island 
of San Juan beyond that which the necessity of the case has demanded." 

This, too, after Mr. Campbell had written to the general that he (Campbell) 
did not think, "under present circumstances, that we (x\mericans) should be jus- 
iified in going to the extent of refusing them (English oflFicers) to land troops 
i'.u' peaceable purposes." 

Two months after the general himself had landed on San Juan island, Paul 
K. Hubbs, jr., deputy inspector for the island, was called on for an afi'idavit. He 
stated, June 4, 1892, that Governor Stevens asked for it, but R. D. Gholson was 
gOAernor at that time. Mr. Hubbs, on oath, deposes that he met the general on 
the island and mentioned "that there had been some trouble between one of the 
American settlers and some of the officers of the Hudson Bay company." Tlie 
ger.eral asked the cause. He said that "a short time since Mr. Cutler, one of our 
citizens, had shot a hog belonging to said company, and immediately went to Mr. 
tiriffin, the superintendent, and offered to pay -for the hog. Mr. Griflfin became 
enraged, etc." "In the afternoon of the same day the Hudson Bay company's 
f^teamer Beaver arrived from Victoria with Mr. Dallas, a director of the Hudson 
Bay company; Dr. Tolmie, a chief factor, and some other parties, who, after hold- 
ing an interview with Mr. Griffin, called on Mr. Cutler and used (Who used?) 
some very threatening language," and other hearsay on dits. 

Mr. Hubbs was, and is still, a great admirer of General Harney. 
His affidavit continues: "They said (as if all spoke at once) that they had 
a posse on board and would take him a prisoner and carry him to Victoria for 
trial I" He was not present, never heard a word, but told the general as a fact. 
This same Mr. Hubbs voluntarily contributed to the Post-Intelligencer of Seattle 
of June 4, 1892, Avhat he saw and knew when the general landed on the 9th of 
July, 18.59, on the island. He stated in the Post-Intelligencer, strangely enough, 
lifter making this affidavit, the following: "Here the general dismissed his stafi' 
officers, and in private communication the arrangements were made which led to 
the occupation of the island by LTnited States troops, and hastened the long- 
delayed question of sovereignty, which took a Jackson or a Harney to consum- 
mate." These private oral communications were to be followed up Avith a prom- 
ised petition, "signed by every American settler on the island." 

The promised petition, although dated July 11, 1859, was not received at the 
department headquarters until after Pickett had taken possession of the island,, 
when it was of no other use than to refute General Harney's assertions in his 
letter to the adjutant general, U. S. A., dated August 7, 1859, where he reports as 
follows: 

"On my visit to San -Tuan island, mentioned in that report (July 19, 1859), 
the United States inspector of customs on that island, Mr. Hubbs, made an official 
complaint, on behalf of the American citizens, of the outrages perpetrated upon 
.them by the British authorities of Vancouver island, who are connected with the 
Hudson Bajr company establishment, and who have a sheep farm on the island. 
* * * (Here he repeats his version of 'the pig was shot' — which, by the way, 
was a breeding boar) * « * j ^y^g gigo informed that the Hudson Bay com- 
pany had threatened, at difi'erent times, to send the Northern Indians down upon 
them and drive them from the island. This statement has since been confirmed 
to nie by some of the most reliable citizens on the Sound." 



s AN J r A y A y d s e c k ^' ,s' / o n 

The petition lofened to enunieiates several murders alleged to have been 
uoue by, and they ask protection from, "the bands of_ marauding Nortiiern 
Indians, who infest these waters in kirge numbers and are greatlj' retarding the 
progress of the settlement of this island." Not one word in tire petition praying 
for protection against "the outrages perpetrated upon them by the British authori- 
ties of Vancouver ishind." nor against the Hudson Bay company, but, on the con- 
trary, it says tliat in April, l.s.iS, "the house of the United States inspector of 
customs for this ishuid was attacked and tired into in the nigiit by a party of 
Indians living on this island, and known as C'lailams, and, had it not been for tlie 
timely aid of the Hudson Bay company, tlu' ins])pctor would have fallen a victim 
to tlieir savage designs." Again: ^Ir. A. .1. Dallas, of Victoria. B. C, addressed 
(general Harney, through thcii' minister at Washington City, ]\lay 10, 1800, after 
luiving seen his (Harney's) letters of the 7th, Sth, 2r)th and 2i)tli of August, 18o!t. 
to the adjutant general, V. S. A.; to (Governor Douglass, August fi; to Captain 
Pickett, July 18, and to (ieneral Scott. -July 19, 185!), in which he gives the most 
unqualified contradiction to the part attributed to bim, which he gives cate- 
gorically, by numbers, but which it will take too much of our time to give in full. 
T.et a few sample letters suffice. He says: "4. 1 never visited the island of 
San Juan in any man-of-war. ^ly arrival there was purely accidental. I landed 
from the coni])any's steamer Beaver, used solely for the pinposes of trade, accom- 
panied by two friends. The next day, accompanied, in addition, by (.'hief Trader 
Ciriffin. our agent upon the island, we took the opportunity, in passing Cutler's 
hut or tent, to call upon him. I remonstrated with him in regard to his offense, 
vvhich he admitted, offering to pa,y the value of the animal killed, which was not 
accepted. No demand of one hundred dollars ($100), or any sum of money, was 
made upon him, nor did I threaten to apprehend him or take him to Victoria. 
On the contrary, 1 stated distinctly that I was a private individual and could not 
interfere witli him. 1 have, fortunately, an unimpeachable witness to prove this. 
■* * o. Cutler did not use any threats to me, and I gave him no cause 
to do so, etc." 

The published correspondence fails to support any assertion of the general, 
sr.d leaves the reader in doubt as to what was killed. The general says it was 
a "pig;" both Hubs and Cutler call it a "hog," and Cutler adds: "The animal 
was so worthless, he (Oritfin) would never have troubled himself about it" — 
hence a writer (Mr. Weir) felt justified in pronouncing it one of the "razor-back" 
specimens. My own impression, at tlie time, was that it was a "boar." of good 
stock for breeding, ami the constructive damage could be figured so as to leave 
?'100 far beliind! The general's diplomacy, however, failed to provoke the English 
into war. 

STATUS OF THE SOUND UNDER COLONEL CASEY, U. S. A. 
In 18.50 the great number of Russian Indians, and from Stickeen river, in tlie 
British possessions, who were prowling in our waters without restraint. l)ecamp 
a terror to the resident families scattered along the shores of our islands and 
mainlands. Lieutenant Colonel Casey, commanding Puget Sound district, located 
Captain Pickett's company. Ninth infantry, near ^^^^atcom, as a rallying point for 
the women and children, in case of an invasion by liostile Indians; also as a 
guard over the outlets about Swinimisli slough (in case Indians had committed 
depredations among our settlements and were tleeing from the Sound), to intercept 
them. Brevet Major Haller's company, Fourtli infantry, was located near Port 

— 8 — 



.S' .4 N J U A N A N D S E C E S SI N 



To\M]send, also an asjluni for women and children, and, with a revenue cutter's 
(Jetr Davis) assistance, to guard Admiralty inlet. The locations were well selected 
tor the special objects in view — tliey gave coniidence to the settlers and caused 
the foreign Indians to conduct themselves with greater propriety while within 
possible reach of these companies. 

The Haro archipelago, although subject to joint occupation, had but few, if 
;\ny, settlers then, other than some on Bellevue farm and a United States 
inspector of customs. There was even here an incidental protection, as when 
Inspector Hubbs' house had been fired into, I crossed over to the island with a 
suiall guard to capture the offenders and protect this officer. Mr. (iritfin, who 
had given timely assistance to Mr. Hubbs to escape, was pleased to see the troops, 
knowing their object, and would, no doubt, have welcomed Captain Pickett's com- 
pany had he come, in 1859, simply to protect the American settlements. The 
Clallams saw soldiers land, quit the island for good, and the trouble ended there. 
The old war-rigged steamer Massachusetts, ei^ht 32-pounders, commanded by 
Captain Swartout, U. S. Navy, came into the Sound waters, and, at the request 
icf the governor and Colonel Casey, Captain Swartout undertook to drive the 
Xorthern Indians out of our seas. He found a large number of Russian Indians 
encamped opposite the Port Gamble sawmills, and ordered them to go home, pro- 
posing to tow their canoes for them up north. They refused to go and resolved 
to fight rather than go against their wills; the trouble was brief; they found 
shelter in the woods, when their camp and provisions were burned up. Hunger 
subdued them, and they capitulated after losing a chief and many braves, but 
their losses stirred up the relatives of the dead, who soon appeared on the Sound 
to avenge their deaths. 

This affair cost Colonel Isaac X. Ebey, ex-collector of customs, a prominent 
.!a,wyer and highly respected pioneer — regarded by the Indians a great chief — the 
lo-?? of his head, which they carried back in triumph. How many more suffered is 
not of record, but the tragic death of Colonel Ebey (like the death of the martyr. 
General Canby), convinced our authorities in Washington City that there was a 
quasi war. Thereupon, the navy department turned over the Massachusetts to 
tic quartermaster department, U. S. A., for military dutj'. On arriving at the 
purt of Steilacoom for duty on the Sound, General Harney and his staff. Captains 
Pleasonton, acting assistant adjutant general, and Ingalls, assistant quartermaster, 
having crossed inland, inspected Fort Steilacoom, then embarked on the Massa- 
chusetts, called at Fort Townsend, for a few moments only, then hastened to Bell- 
irgham bay, where night overtook them. Captains Pleasonton and Ingalls were 
classmates at West Point with Captain Pickett, and stopped over night with him. 
General Harney stopped for the night with Judge Fitzhugh. What occurred this 
night is not of record, but the next day the Massachusetts steamed for Semiahmoo, 
where General Harney became the guest of Mr. Campljell, while his staff officers 
v/ere entertained by Mr. Warren, the secretary to the boimdary commission. 
These officers informed Mr. Warren that General Harney intended to order Cap- 
tain Pickett's company to occupy San Juan island, and he inferred that the gen- 
eiar« visit had reference to it. While waiting for his mail at my post (Fort 
Townsend), I showed General Harney's special orders No. 72 to Mr. Campbell, 
v.ho expressed surprise that he, Harney, would order Pickett on San Juan with- 
out advising him (Mr. Campbell), as the island was still in dispute. Mr. Warren 
then told him how he knew it, and had taken it for granted that the general had 

— 9 — 



SAN JUAN AND SECESSION 



iiifoniu'd Mr. {'aiiipbell, as coiiimissiomT, or he would have mentioned it to him 
before. The ^lassaelmsetts tlien proceeded to Victoria liarbor to get coal, and 
V'hile there (ieneral llarney met Governor Douglass and, by invitation, dined with 
him. After leaving Victoria he .stopped at, and landed on, San Jnan island, for a 
short time, then hastened back to his lieadcpiarters. Fort Vancouver. 

GENERAL HARNEY'S STRATEGY. 

However satisfactory Colonel Casey's arrangements proved to the inluil)i1ants, 
thej' were not so to the general, whose strategy is sui generis, and upsets rank 
of officers and disposition of troops, as we will soon discover. 

Captain Pleasonton, acting assistant adjutant general, writes, July 18, IS.)!), 
lioni Fort Vancouver, to Lieutenant Colonel S. Casey, Ninth infantry, command- 
ijig Fort Steilacoom, Piiget Sound: 

"Sir: By special orders No. 72, herewith enclosed, you will perceive tlie gen- 
eral commanding has withdra\tn the garrisons from Bellingham and Townsend. 
and has placed the Massachusetts rnider your orders, for better protection and 
supervision of the waters of Puget Sound. 

"To carry out these instructions Avith more effect, the general commanding 
■desires me to communicate to you the following directions: The steamer Massa- 
chusetts will proceed without delay to Bellingham, to be used in establishing 
company D, Ninth infantry, on San Juan island, after wliicli slie will convey 
company L Fourth infantry, to Steilacoom, wlien the company you assign for 
service on the steamer will be embarked under your supervision. 

"After the ship has received the necessary stores and supplies, siie will lie 
irstructed to cruise in the Sound among the islands frequented by the Northern 
Jndians, who will be warned not to come into any of the waters under tlie juris- 
c'iction of the United States, which, etc. 

"Any opposition by these Indians will be speedily cliecked, and the require- 
ments of these instructions will be maintained by force, if necessary. The ordinary 
rendezvous of the steamer Massachusetts, for wood and water, will be San Juan 
island; and should the couHuander of that island desire the assistance of any 
force from the ship for purposes connected with the defense of the island, the 
officer in command of the ship will be instructed to furnish a force and co-operate 
with the troops in all measures requiring its safety and protection. At the end 
of every two months the ship will visit Fort Steilacoom to obtain sujjplies and 
for the muster and inspection recjuired by the regulations. The command on the 
steamer Massachusetts, will be borne on the post leturn of Fort Steilacoom as a 
component part of its garrison. 

« 4f » » ^g ^]^p j^j^jjj j^ mounted with eight 32-pounders and the proper 
ammunition has been provided, the crew will be instructed, under the direction of 
tlie master of the vessel, in their use, to obtain the most efficient action from all 
j)arties in cases requiring it. * * * 'I'hp general comnuinding is pleased to 
communicate his confidence in the zeal, energy and intelligence you exercise in the 
discharge of your duties in the service, and he rests assured the details transmitted 
'in this communication will be rendered with satisfaction and advantage to such 
worthy qualities. I am, colonel, etc." 

These instructions have been carefully worded to mean much moie than is 
written; for officers on the Sound at that date could read between the lines. For 
eyamj^le: The withdrawal of the garrisons of Bellingham and Townsend dissolved 

— 10 — 



SAN JUAN AND SECESSION 



the Puget Sound district. The communication is addressed to Lieutenant Colonel 
S. Casey, Ninth infantry, commanding Fort Steilacoom — not commanding Puget 
Sound district— limiting his authority to his post, literally, placing Captain Pickett 
above him by his having an independent post, but charged with a position of 
gravest responsibility, requiring the highest degree of intelligence, discretion and 
international courtesy, wliich the customs of service intrust only to superior officers. 
The Massachusetts is placed nominally under Colonel Casey's command, but 
actually under Captain Pickett's, because she must rendezvous ordinarily at San 
Juan island, and get her wood and water there, although there was no, wharf nor 
water and no laborers to cut wood at the island, while at the port of Steilacooli) 
tliese were convenient and abundant. But if Captain Pickett wanted Colonel 
{'asey's troops aboard the Massachusetts to join his company ashore on San Juan, 
he has only to say "for defense," and the commander of the company is obliged 
to supply his requisition, even as, in my case, he should rank Captain Pickett and 
differ with him as to the necessity for the soldiers; if he does not comply, he dis- 
oljcys the commanding general's orders and is liable to a general court-martial. 
At the end of every two months the ship will visit Fort Steilacoom to obtain 
supplies and for muster and inspection. The fort being three miles by road from 
salt water, we will presume it is the crew, whether rain or shine, must visit Fort 
Steilacoom, fall into line, there to be mustered and inspected, and thereby save 
Captain Pickett all his trouble and bother of muster rolls. But the queerest thing 
ordered therein is, when you understand that the soldiers are the crew, inasmuch 
as engineers and firemen cannot leave their posts, and the master of the vessel 
is a civilian employe of the quartermaster department, yet the general orders that 
•the crew will be instructed, under the direction of the master of the vessel, in 
the use of the cannon." As Northern Indians will -not contest against cannon on 
water, the general must have contemplated a fight with other than Indians, for 
he says plainly he wants "to obtain the most efficient action from all parties in 
cases requiring it." But the unkindest cut of all is in the final part of this won- 
derful letter— it is gilt-edged irony — where the -general is pleased to express his 
confidence, etc., in Colonel Casey, and on the same day, passing over Colonel Casey, 
gives Captain Pickett an independent comiuand in the front, as if to induce war, 
charged with: "Second — Another serious and important duty will devolve upon 
you in the occupation of San Juan island, arising from the conflicting interests of 
the American citizens and the Hudson Bay company establishment at that point. 
This duty is to afford adequate protection to the American citizens in their rights 
as such, and to resist all attempts at interference by the British authorities re- 
siding on Vancouver island, by intimidation or force, in the controversies of the 
«bove mentioned parties. * * *" 

Scarcely had Captain Pickett quit Fort Bellingham in obedience to special 
orders No. 72, when some eight or ten young Nootsack warriors, painted and fitted 
out for fight, defiantly entered Whatcom, incensed because their chief had been 
(and they supposed was then), imprisoned in the county jail, to demand his re- 
lease. The insolence of one warrior caused a citizen to shoot him, when the others 
avenged his death by shooting the citizen. The town was fully aroused and the 
people took to their arms. When the smoke cleared away four warriors lay dead. 
I was then on the Massachusetts with my company, searching for Northern Indians 
j-o remove them. The citizens, seeing the smoke of my steamer, sent an express 
messenger out to intercei)t her and request militarv protection from mv command. 

— 11 — 



*? .1 N J I A N A N D ^ E C E S S ION 

Fortunately wlicii lie landed. \vt' found tlie tribe had deseeuded to tlie uioutli of 
Xootsaek river, to receive llieir deiul i'elali\('s, and hy ia])id inareliinii "to the 
Xootsack crossing," wiu-re the river was narrow and very rajiid, 1 became master 
of the situation: tlie Indians could not possibly get by to their lodges with their 
dead without my permission. J sent a friendly invitation to the tril)e to meet 
Tue there, which they accepted, i demanded the remainder of their young warriors 
in that tight as hostages, as a guarantee that there would be no more liloodshed 
for the past. They gave me the hostages, and I thus rescued not only the people 
around Whateom, but Mr. Campbell and his small working parties in the woods, 
marking a boundary line, from Indian massacres and the effect of Oneral Harney's 
strategy. Had Pickett not been removed, this would not have happened. 

I confess that I cannot see in the general's instructions to Pickett, as far as 
published, any positive injunction against allowing the English authorities to have 
an equal force in "the fairly disputed limits" for the like protection of British 
subjects. Were there any other instructions? Probably none. Mr. Camjibell 
thought and wrote to (ieneral Harney, "under present circvunstances," it was not 
considered projier to refuse to allow the English "to land troops for jieaceable pur- 
poses. 1 found that Captain Pickett had different views, derived frcnn your 
instructions, which he confidentially showed me. 1 ])erceived that they were 
susceptible of the interpretation he gave them, tliougii they were not directly 
mandatory on the suliject, etc."' Letter to General Harney of August 14. IS.")!). 

I may be doing injustice, but my candid impression has been that on the night 
spent at Bellingham Bay the matter was orally agreed upon — the hog incident to 
he seized as the pretext, and the exclusion of British law and British troops from 
San Juan island to become the casus belli. We know that General Harney was a 
native of Louisiana; Captain Pickett and -ludge Fitzhugh of Virginia; Faustleroy. 
ths master of the Massachusetts, also a Virginian; and these are signiticant facts. 
for Colonel Casey and Major Haller were born north of ^lason and Dixon's line. 
General Harney's indulgence to the citizens in St. l^ouis, ;Mo., who were known to 
be disloyal to the administration, until he was removed; and Pickett and Fitz- 
hugh accepting commissions in the Confederate army, are significant factors con- 
nected with this subject. 

Captain Pickett believed his third jiaragraph of ])ost orders, which asserted 
complete and exclusive control over San duan island, would compel the British 
authorities to assert their claim with force; he was displeased when 1 first met 
him and advised a joint occupation. He assured me that if they attempted to 
land he would tire on them. He believed they would land, and considered war 
inevitable. But war then, apart from the political objections, was not a pro- 
pitious moment to fight England, from a military point of view, inasmuch as we 
were utterly uni)rei)aied. in every sense, for war. Our coast, from Olympia to San 
Diego, Cal., was helplessly exposed to an enemy in a warshij). while England at 
that iivomeiit had in Es(|uimalt liaibtn-. under Hear .Admiral Bayne's royal navy, 
the commandiiig fleet: 

The Hagship Ganges, eighty-four guns, 840 men; Captain Slaved commandiiig. 

Tribune, thirty-one guns, 825 men; Captain Hornby coiiiinaiidiiig: twenty-two 
32- pounders, nine G8-pounders. 

Pleiades, twenty-one guns, 32.") men; Ca])tain DeCourcy commanding: one pivot 
and twenty fiS-pounders. 

— 12 — 



SAN JUAN AND SECESSION 

Satellite, twenty-one guns, 325 men; Captain Pievost commanding; one pivot 
and twenty 68-pounders. 

Plumper, ten guns, 125 men; Captain Richards commanding; all 32-pounders. 

Sappers, miners and marines, 200 men. 

Total, 167 guns, 2,140 men. 

Finding from Captain Pickett's communications that it was probable the 
British navy would force a landing on San Juan island. General Harney ordered 
every available soldier in liis department to the island, and on the 30th of August, 
1S59, he reports to Cleneral Scott the number of troops forming Colonel Casey's 
command that daj*: 
Companies A and C, Foiu-tli infantry, and H, Ninth infantry (from Steila- 

coom ) 130 

Companies A, B, D and M, of the Third artillery 181 

Company D, Ninth infantry , 06 

Company I, Fourth infantry 44 

Detachment of Company A, engineers 11 

Aggregate 461 

The eight 32-pounders of the Massachusetts had been landed, and besides they 
had one 6-pounder and five mountain howitzers to contend against over 700 pounds 
of iron balls from a single broadside of 68-pounders, beyond, if necessary, the 
range of our 32-pounders. The revenue cutters Joe Lane and Jeff Davis and the 
lighthouse tender Shubrick, our entire naval force on Puget Round — for the Massa- 
chusetts was disarmed and converted into a beast of biu'den — could make no show 
against her majesty's fleet. 

The iinglish vessels could, of course, have prevented the landing of any troops 
to reinforce Pickett, and Colonel Casey fully expected to meet with resistance in 
attempting to land his command. But it was equally certain to the English officers 
that the troops on the island could not escape, if the admiral wished, by only 
preventing boats landing there to get and carry tBem away. We had violated the 
military maxim: "Never do what the enemy would like you to do!" for we had 
concentrated in a place wliere the enemy could keep us as completely as if we 
had been corked up in a bottle — a la General Butler on the James river. 

With all of General Harney's forces on the island, the English were masters 
of the situation in the department of Oregon. They knew it, and contented them- 
selves with keeping a single war vessel in San Juan harbor, with springs on her 
cable to deliver broadsides — a threat far more humiliating than if they had landed, 
because neither Pickett nor Casey had means to force the Tribune to withdraw 
from their American harbor, nor from its insulting menace. 

HOW SMALL THINGS TURN TO GOOD ACCOUNT IN WAR. 

It often happens in war that very simple things produce wonderful results. 
At Gaines' Mill, Va., on the second of the seven days' fighting, when General Lee 
had overpowered and exhausted General Fitz John Porter's army and was driving 
him back, General Meagher's Irish brigade was sent forward to reinforce Porter. 
Jlcagher, seeing the masses all around him demoralized and hurrying to the rear, 
divined Porter's distress, and, for fear that his men might also become demoralized, 
he called out: "The left wing has taken Richmond!" The effect was electrical; 
his men rushed forward, hurrahing as loud as they could, which encouraged our 

— 13 — 



.S .1 N J U A N A N D ^ E C E S ;S I N 

vpteiaus to liold on. kiiowiuy tluit relief was coming, tieiieral J.ee, iieai'in<j- the 
shouts, Jialle;! liis men to organize and reform to meet the fresh enemy. This gave 
General Porter time to withdraw under the gathering darkness, and saved the 
remnant of his battalions. The timely inspiration of (General Meagher no doubt 
saved the Army of the Potomac from a verj^ serious disaster. 

The burning of the great bridge at \Vrightsville, in York county, I'ennsylvania, 
seemed to have little credit for its important bearing on the war, but defeated 
(ieneral Lee's plan of campaign, without bloodshed, so far as the crossing of the 
Susquehanna river was a part. The bridge was one of Lee's objective points, but 
was set on fire -hme 28, 18(53, just as General Gordon's rebel brigade was approach- 
ing to seize it. three days- before the fighting of Gettjsburg. Lee was approach- 
ing leism-ely. trusting to his having left Hooker's command thoroughly demoralized 
away behind him. His inability to cross the Susquehanna was as much of a sur- 
prise as the proximity of General Meade's army. It enabled Meade to catch up. 
and the battle of (4ettysburg put an end to Jiis invasion. 

But a smaller incident — remote and unconnected with the belligerent operations 
about San Juan island — did, I believe, exercise a potent influence in staying tlie 
contemplated English forcible occupation of the island. I was in tlu^ harbor on 
board the Massachusetts on the mornnig of the day fixed upon by Captain Pickett 
to meet the English officers. Captains Hornby, Prevost and Richards, to decide 
upon joint occupation. Pickett and I had disagreed, and, as I ranked him, he did 
not wish me to be present. 

Before daylight that morning the Plumper arrived, bringing sappers, miners 
and marines, from Eraser river. At a proper hour, Captain Richards (whose ac- 
quaintance I had made at Fort Townsend), made me a social call, and when about 
tc leave expressed a wish to make Colonel Pickett a call and asked if I would 
accompany him and introduce him, to whicli I gladly assented. On leaving 
Pickett's tent, he asked me if he might introduce me to Lieutenant Colonel Moody, 
of Her Majesty's Royal engineers, the lieutenant governor of British Columbia, 
then on the island, at ]\lr. Griff"ift."s, close by. I consented, and on the way I asked 
if it were possible for me to get Colonel Casey a newspaper containing a detailed 
account of the recently fought l^nttle of Solferino, from one of their officers. L 
however, could not recollect the name (Solferino), and it was difficult for me to 
assure Captain Richards, and afterwards Colonel Moody, that it was a later battle 
than Magenta. I learned from Captain Richards that their English mail was more 
than three weeks behind time, and it dawned upon his mind that jjossibly the 
two governments at home might have settled the question and their dispatches on 
the way were delayed by failure of their steamboats to connect. 

After the introduction to Colonel Moody and his staff, conversation was gen- 
eral until Captain Richards announced to Colonel Moody that I brought the news 
cf a later Fi'ench victory, which took the English by surprise, and many questions 
were put to me, which were appropriate to Magenta, and so I informed them. 
Then came an ominous pause, and I stepped into (iriffin's yards for a few minutes. 
On my return, 1 s(xm became conscious that Captain Richards had suggested the 
possibility of a settlement of the boundary question, and their own uncertain po- 
sition was due to delayed mails. They asked how the president communicated 
with his army, etc., how many enlisted men in a company, etc., when I answered 
th.it the normal number of a company was .sixty odd, but the president could 
increase them in a department threatened with hostilities to 100 men, and our 

— 14 — 



*S' .4 ^Y J U A N A ^' D SECESSION 



coinpanies had not been increased, nor were any defenses being constructed, leav- 
ing us totally unprepared for hostilities. Captain Kiehards' suggestion was to 
them the only explanation which enabled them to comprehend General Harney's 
conduct.* 

At the afternoon meeting the British officers were conservative, and Major 
Hawkins, royal engineers, was soon after dispatched as bearer of dispatches to their 
minister at Washington, D. C. The French war news, I still believe, defeated 
Captain Pickett's and General Harney's expectations, and stayed hostilities suffi- 
ciently long for General Scott to put in an appearance, and he established satis- 
factory relations between the contending governments in regard to San Juan 
island. 

After General Scott returned to Washington City, leaving General Harney once 
more in command, the latter attempted to undo what General Scott had done, 
on the alleged ground that General Scott had left no orders' to grant a joint 
military occupation with British troops; neither has the United States government 
delegated any authority to the lieutenant general to offer or accept such occupa- 
tion, etc. That San Juan island was attached to Whatcom county 
by act of the territorial legislature which was duly submitted to congress 
and has not been disproved; it is, therefore, the law of the land. Pickett must 
respect on the island the civil jurisdiction of Washington territory — "that any 
attempt on the part of the British commander to ignore this right will be followed 
by deplorable results out of his (Harney's) power to prevent or control," etc. 

The garrison at Fort Townsend re-established by General Scott was again 
r.ithdrawn by General Harney. Captain Himt's company. Fourth infantry, was 
relieved from duty on San Juan island and Captain Pickett, reinstated, breaking up 
Fort Bellingham. The general seemed to be playing the bull in the china shop — 
ureaking things up generally! 

General Scott, referring to General Harney's order to Captain Pickett "to 
acknowledge and respect the civil jurisdiction,'! says: "If this does not lead to 
a collision of arms it wilf^igain be due to the forbearance of the British authori- 
ties; for I foimd both Brigadier General Ha^iey and Captain Pickett proud of 
their conquest of the islaj^l and quite jealous of anj' interference therewith on the 
pai't of higher authority," etc. 

The secretary of war, John B. Floyd, on whom General Harney relied for 
support for favors performed for the former at Fort Snelling, would no longer 
fa^•or him, and on the 8th of June, 1860, directed: "The adjutant general will order 
Brigadier General Harney to repair to Washington City without delay." With 
the departure of General Harney all discord went with him. The island fell to 
us by the decision of Emperor Wilhelm I. of Germany, as ai'bitrator. 



*Major Haller sailed at noon, August 3, 1859, two hours before the meeting 
of the officers was held, having orders to land Lieutenant Shaaff, Fourth infantry, 
with twenty men, at Semiahmoo, as a personal guard for Mr. Campbell. 

— 15 — 



LIBRRRY Oh UUNUKt:>:> 



017 139 641 4 • 

SAN JVAN AND S E C E S iS J N 



PERSISTENT FALSE HISTORY. 

There are many statements publislied as history of Washington that are 
wholly groundless; there are two of then, so often, asserted that thev are accepted 
as rel.abe and likely to crystallize into history. One persistently States that D,- 
Parens A\ h.tnian, by riding through midwinter's storms and snow 1842-43 to 

neaH "foo;/'''-" "^'"^^ ^-^^-^ ^•■- *'- British, winle the fact 'remains Ihat 
nea.lj 1,000 enugrants had arrived in the country (W42) before the doctor had 
started. The other ,s even more persistently atlirmed, to the effect that (Jeneral 
Harney had saved to the United States the island of San Juan from the g,-asp of 
PiStt '"^ *""""■ ""'"1^^'"""' '^"^1 '^'' g^J'«"t conduct of Captain 

The nulitary occupation, as a matter of course, would be distasteful to (ire^ 
Britain and her minister in \Yashington City, immediately on hearing "That 
^.eport had reached the city that troops of the United State's had actualfy taken 
possession of the island of San Juan," demanded a prompt explanation, '^nd we 
lc?rn from his answer to the explanation: 

rvn""i Z "^^''^-'"'^P' ^^ l'^'- »^«.i^«ty's government to learn as to the past, that 
(^oneral Harney did not act upon that occasion upon any order from the United 
Slates government, but entirely upon his own responsibility." 

0" the 20th of October, 1850, General Scott arrived first at Fort Vancouver, 

;■' .'II ^'''P*''^^ ^''^'^^' ■i^'^g^ advocate, and Colonel Casev a 

member of the general court-martial in session there-made possible bv" 'the 
Sollenno incident. 

In concluding, I wish to say, inasmuch as General Harney is dead, and mo>t 
all the officers connected with the military occupation, that this compilation nun- 
be ^<e kicking a dead lion, but in justification of it 1 may refer to ex-Secretarv 
i'sh^'f . '''''':''ti' "«"• ^^"^" ^^'-'•' -I'o, twenty years ago or more, pub- 
shed the Argus, in Port Townsend, and published a long article bv me expressing 
the views herein, refuting his artlc'P persisting that C.,',vral Ha'rnev had saved 
San Juan island to us, and President Buchanan and Ge> -al Scott" did a -reat 
wrong to the general through ,)ealoT;-'y. ^ 

Respectfully submitted, 

GRANVILLE O. HALLER. 

Colonel U. S. A retired (Captain and Brevet major, Commanding I Companv. 
I'ourth Infantry and Fort Townsend. Wash., in 18.-)!).). 



[Reprinted from The Tacoma Sunday Ledger of January 19, 18!Ki.] 



